The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare: The Triumph of the West

by Edited by Geoffrey Parker

• ISBN13: 9780521738064
• ISBN10: 0521738067
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-09-29
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Now available in a revised and updated version, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare provides a unique account of Western warfare from antiquity to the present day. The book treats the history of all aspects of the subject: the development of warfare on land, sea and air; weapons and technology; strategy and defence; discipline and intelligence; mercenaries and standing armies; cavalry and infantry; chivalry and Blitzkrieg; guerilla assault and nuclear arsenals. It places in context particular key events in the history of armed engagement, from the Greek victory at Marathon, through the introduction of gunpowder in medieval England and France, to the jungle warfare of Vietnam and the strategic air attacks of the Gulf War. Throughout, there is an emphasis on the socio-economic aspects of military progress: who pays for it, how can its returns be measured, and to what extent does it explain the rise of the West to global dominance over two millennia?

Table of Contents

Introduction: the Western way of war

The Age of Massed Infantry

Genesis of infantry 600-350 BC

From phalanx to legion 350-250 BC

The Roman way of war 250 BC-AD 300

The Age of Stone Fortifications

On Roman ramparts 300-1300

New weapons, new tactics 1300-1500

The gunpowder revolution 1300-1500

The Age of Guns and Sails

Ships of the line 1500-1650

Conquest of the Americas 1500-1650

Dynastic war 1494-1660

States in conflict 1661-1763

Nations in arms 1763-1815

The Age of Mechanized Warfare

The industrialization of war 1815-1871

Towards world war 1871-1914

The West at war 1914-18

The world in conflict 1919-41

The world at war 1941-45

The post-war world

Epilogue: the future of Western warfare

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.